Bad Dreams
by CookieCrush
Summary: Ellie never has the chance to really act like a kid when she's in this world full of pain and tragedy; But thanks to a certain man unintentionally giving her happiness and filling the deep void inside her, she gets to act like a child somewhat. A sarcastic, nosy child at that. (Rated T: For Strong Language, suggestive themes) (Don't read unless you've passed the Quarantine Zone)


Disclaimer I don't own the Last Of Us, that belongs to Naughty Dog. - - -

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A/N: This story is based on when Joel first meets Ellie and has to watch over her until Tess comes back.

Joel, after opening the door, and leaving it open for Ellie, he shuts it and plops down on the couch. Ellie looks over at him.

"What are you doing?" Ellie asked. Joel puts his arms his head to create comfort.

"Killin' time." Joel simply answers, and takes a comfortable huff.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Ellie questioned, unsure if there was some kind of thing to entertain her or a certain protocol.

"I'm sure you will figure that out." Joel replied, and begins to sleep.

There it was..the reply that pretty much said, you're free to do as you please. So as soon as she realized he was asleep, she walked around the room, looking for random objects for her amusement.

First she found a rather large, round can, which contents were of a chicken.

"The fuck? Chicken in a can? Hahaha." Ellie laughed to herself, of course, trying to be quiet as well. "Too bad it's empty.." Ellie's eyes misted with a bit of discontent, but she just decided to throw the can back and went back to her search for amusement.

She rummaged around the cabinets, and looked under them, searching for just about anything unusual. She saw something. A piece of paper to be exact. Her arm extended as far as it could to reach it, and finally..with just one stretch, she grasped it and brought it back for her analyzing eyes. Her eyes skimmed it, reading the interesting words on it until she realized there was a picture on the back.

The picture was of what seemed to be three friends, crowded together to get into a tiny picture. They still smiled though, one of them laughing more than the others. Ellie smiled begrudgingly and placed it in her backpack for later.

"Man..life must of been so...nice." Ellie whispered to herself holding tightly on her backpack.

"Emm...hah...NO! Hah..hahh.." Joel mumbled, looking as if he was terrified in his sleep.

Ellie stared at him, wondering if she should wake him up. It probably wasn't a good idea, and..they weren't exactly close. Plus, she attempted to kill him when they met, not exactly a perfect meeting.

She decided not to.

"What is he dreaming of?" Ellie said aloud, thinking he probably couldn't hear her. "..I shouldn't be so nosy...I'll just search the place again. I'm sure I wouldn't like it if someone watched me sleep."

With that in mind, she wandered around the small room, looking for more things to play with. The search consisted of her finding, a battered stuffed-giraffe, a ripped leather jacket with a peculiar stain on it, and a baby picture.

Her eyebrows fixed onto it curiously.

"Who the hell lived here?" Ellie thought to herself.

She was a curious person she had to admit, and wouldn't mind expressing it to anybody within earshot. Yes she was a little nosy, but she wanted to know things..things before this holocaust happened.

"Mmmph... Sarah.." Joel mumbled something that made sense.

"Sarah?" Ellie called very softly, as if to reiterate what he said to make sure she was correct. "Who's..?"

"No...please God...hahhmm.." Joel mumbled again, his body moving around.

"I didn't take Joel as the religious type." Ellie told herself as she chose to ignore it.

She wanted to know more, but she knew he wasn't gonna tell her shit, so why even bother? It's not like she was a genius detective like in one of her books. Hey, sometimes any book is a good book if you're bored.

Several minutes passed.

Ellie's head rotated around, surveying the room to see if she missed anything. She had all ready mimicked the people in the paintings, looked at all the pictures lying around, and even read the ingredients on the spoiled food cans. Which in fact, reeked!

"What to do now? I'm not even tired." Ellie whined, propping her legs against the wall as she stared at the ceiling.

She heard Joel's loud snoring.

He has momentarily stopped mumbling for about three minutes. It was really quiet now without his repetitive mumbles.

Her head arched to look at him, and she pulled back her legs and rose from the hard ground. Her eyes focused on his peaceful, yet scarred face. She could tell he has had trouble sleeping, and she lightly touches his face as if to express sympathy. He flinches, and in return, Ellie's hand draws back .

"Ahh..that gives me an idea." Ellie whispers mischievously as Joel lays still.

She sits on the ground in front of the couch, and her hand hovers over Joel's stomach. Her finger dares to curve across his side, and it does, causing Joel's head to twitch.

Her hand hesitates, but she still dares herself to do it, hoping to see a humorous reaction. Five fingers wiggled across the unsuspecting man's side, making his body twitch now, and his hips swivel slightly.

"Holy shit..he's ticklish." Ellie breathes in shock, holding back a laugh as she continues. But this time..with two hands.

A smile appears on her lips, and childishness fills her to the brim while her fingers mischievously tickled all around, hoping for more and more hilarious reactions from the perceived grumpy and emotionless old man.

Soon, to Ellie's displeasure, he got used to the feeling and went back to resting peacefully. She about gave up, until her eyes noticed that there was another part exposed. How did she not see it before? His arms rested behind his head, giving comfort, and gave Ellie a devilish grin. Her fingers wiggled as they closer and closer..and then bam! She went crazy with the happiness and began tickling as fast and hard as she could. Not exactly a great idea. His body convulsed a tad, and he seemed to be waking up.

Ellie's eyes popped open and scurried off to the nearest chair, sat down, and pretended like nothing happened.

Joel woke up from his nightmare, and looked around, seeing Ellie sitting on a chair, watching the rain drop. He then sat up and rubbed his eyes. Ellie, feeling a bit awkward, sparked up a conversation.

"I hate bad dreams.."

"Yeah..me too."

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A/N: Just thought I should put a little childish naughtiness into the Last of Us. Tee-hee.

QA: What's the silliest/funniest part of the Last of Us for you. Mine was when Joel was explaining to Ellie about how to shoot a rifle, and she says something about BB's. Lol.


End file.
